


seem not to break

by tehhumi



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Entwives, Erestor is an entwife, Gen, Inspired by misreading someone on discord, set immediately post-War of the Ring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:13:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24972901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tehhumi/pseuds/tehhumi
Summary: Elrond and Erestor discuss the War of the Ring, and the roles the Ents played in it.
Relationships: Erestor (Tolkien)/Treebeard | Fangorn, Treebeard | Fangorn/Wandlimb | Fimbrethil
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	seem not to break

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Robert Frost

“Elrohir and Elladan sent a more detailed report of the war,” Elrond said

Erestor’s face was expressionless, smooth and clear as a mask. “That’s nice.”

“They met up with Aragorn not far from Fangorn forest. There was apparently an Entmoot.”

“No.”

“I haven’t even asked anything.” 

“If that old stump cared what I did, he could have done something three dozen yeni ago when Sauron was burning and salting my forest into a desert. Instead he was too rootbound and moss-gathering to walk a few hundred miles over the course of a century.”

“Apparently Fangorn has gone to war at last. Saruman was burning down Fangorn forest, and the entmoot was a declaration of war.”

“A declaration of war on Saruman, not Sauron,” Erestor clarified. “What makes his forest so special?”

“It’s the last of the ancient forest.”

“And whose fault is that? Who let them all be destroyed one by one? Who should have been leading us but instead retreated ever further - and not just from the Enemy and his servants! He abandoned Lothlorien to the care of the elves and the rest of the world to dubious care of the Men! And now Fangorn stirs to protect his own shriveled borders, and I am supposed to pretend all is well?” Erestor’s face remained calm, but his head whipped forward with every phrase and his hands seemed to be tossed about by a storm, waving high and low and snapping back at the last moment.

“They have lost all the other enttwives,” Elrond said softly. “Those who fled the Gardens did not find their husbands.”

“As no ent helped us defend or even flee, I am not surprised.”

“Fangorn still misses you. He spoke of you, to the halflings, and said he would regret it if he died without seeing you again.”

Erestor apparently stilled, and sagged as if under a heavy weight. “I do not wish to grieve him, but neither do I wish to plant my flowers only in the dots of sun not stolen by his branches, to find every plot of soil already thick with roots I must snake around.”

“You do not have to,” Elrond reassured, “But it would bring him joy to see you again. Arwen and I leave soon for Gondor, and you could travel with us. Th Gap of Rohan is quite near Fangorn’s realm.”

“I am far from the long limbed beauty he remembers, even if I keep too much bark for an elf,” Erestor said, raising one hand and letting the sleeve fall back as he did so. The tan on his hands lasted only to the wrist; the rest of his arm was papery white scored with black lines across the length. “He will see me as another way the world has changed without him. But I will go anyway, for I know the change is better.”

Elrond nodded. “I will leave it to you how the staff should arrange things until your return.”

“I don’t think I will return here.”

“What?”

“Sauron is driven from the land that once was my home. It is barren now, but could be grown anew. The Ephel Dúath would be crowned with flowers, and the sea of Núrnen ringed with mangroves. The trees I once knew may be lost, but their great-great-grandchildren could live in the same earth.”

“I would miss your help in Imladris.”

“You are not staying either,” Erestor pointed out, “You have been propped up with your ring, and with it pulled away you’ll snap in the first storm. And your sons don’t need me here.”

“What about the library, and the woods outside? How will they fare without you?”

“The library is full of dead words on dead pages; it can be cared for by any scholar. The woods will thrive for a few decades untended.”

“And then?”

“Then it will be a forest as any other, no better or worse than that in Forlindon,” Erestor said with a shrug. “Perhaps one of the younger Ents would be willing to care for it; I have been shepherding these trees before their mothers seeded them.”

“So then this is goodbye.”

“Not quite yet, my friend. I will travel with you to Gondor, and see Arwen married. I can tell Estel of my plans in person; he will doubtless appreciate knowing his new neighbor.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fimbrethil is the canonical name of Fangorn’s wife. It means “slim-birch”, so I made her/Erestor a paper bark birch.  
> Sauron established Mordor in S.A. 1000, and the Gardens of the Entwives (located northwest of Mordor) were destroyed in the Second Age - I’m assuming several years after Mordor was founded.


End file.
